Conceptual Transmission in a Missionary and Polemical Context: The Notion of ‘Image’ between Ruthenian and Church Slavonic
Conceptual Transmission in a Missionary and Polemical Context: The Notion of ‘Image’ between Ruthenian and Church Slavonic

Summary/Abstract: This contribution investigates the transmission of concepts and terms between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy in the Early Modern era. The focus is on terminology revolving around the notion of ‘image’. The work investigated is Szymon Budny’s Ruthenian Catechism (1562) as a Protestant polemical and missionary enterprise. Budny’s use of a number of nouns and verbs in the semantic field around ‘image’ is divided into six semantic categories and compared to the Church Slavonic translation that emerged in Moscow in the 17th century as part of an Orthodox polemical counteroffensive. A special role is reserved for lexical pairs of (near-)synonyms, which Budny used extensively to facilitate his readers’ comprehension, by combining terms from the Ruthenian vernacular and the Church Slavonic written tradition. Where both texts share a substantial common ground due to a shared cultural and linguistic heritage, this proximity facilitated Budny’s missionary intentions. On the other hand, the translation shows a number of distortions and adaptations that aggravated the polemical animosity between the developing confessional identities. This becomes especially visible in the discussion of typological parallels between the Old and New Testament and in the terms used to underline doctrinal differences regarding the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper or Eucharist.

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